Developing effective and impacting Missions participation in Fellowship Churches
Basic Workshop:
Vision, Strategy and Planning
To date a total of 29 churches have participated in 10 workshops held in BC, Alberta and Ontario. The most recent was in Langley, BC in 2012. The comments below are from participants in the October 2010 workshops held in Kamloops and Vancouver, BC. Five churches were involved with a total of 39 participants.
NEXT Workshop: Contact Mark for information (see below)
Download a Workshop Invitation Brochure sample
Comments from previous workshops:
Your ministry will have eternal effects upon us as individuals and hopefully us as a local church. You gave us a lot to think about and a number of things that we can implement to improve our focus on mission and missions.
If you are interested in having this workshop in your church, or would like to be informed when another multi-church workshop is being held, please contact Mark via the form below.
Download Best Practices for CHURCH MISSIONS Workshop Information pamphlet
The average missions committee chairperson can easily become overwhelmed and confused. Very few have the luxury of time to sort through the options and provide informed direction for the missions program in a way that will excite and involve the people, utilize the resources effectively and further the overall mission of the church.
Through the joint efforts of Fellowship International Ministries and Northwest Baptist Seminary a workshop has been designed to help churches navigate the maze of church missions options so that they can become effective and strategic partners in God’s mission to the world. Following the pattern of the Best Practices for Church Boards seminars, this one day basic workshop is designed for churches whose current missions program is non-existent or not meeting its potential. The program is divided into 5 one hour sessions that walk those responsible for the direction of missions in their church through a process of discovery and decision making that will result in clarity, purpose and an achievable plan towards effective and impacting missions participation.
Program outline
- UNDERSTANDING Missions
- Determine your ROLE as a missions committee
- Assess the HEALTH of missions in your church
- Setting strategic GOALS
- PLANNING and assigning tasks
Outcomes
The participants will:
Understand how missions fits into their church’s mission
Bring their vision for the task of church missions into clearer focus
Clarify missions priorities
Identify their role in facilitating missions in the church
Develop a sense of teamwork, cooperation and potential synergy
Develop a clear goal concerning one of the key issues they have identified
Make a specific plan on which to focus energy and resources
Become excited about the potential for their church’s involvement in missions
Requirements for Participation
- You are permitted to have as many participants as you wish who will fit around a table. I recommend 8-10 as a good number to ensure effective participation and interaction. Minimum of 3, but preferably more! Participants should come prepared to discuss their role in leading missions in their church. Teaching from the front is limited. Instead the focus is on working through guided exercises that stimulate discussion within each church group.
- The pastor and at least one member of the leadership team / elders board should be present along with the missions team. The pastor is to present the church’s overall mission and direction (NOT the role of the missions team which is the point of the workshop) and ensure that the decisions enhance the overall goals of the church. By being involved through the process, the pastor will be able to champion the missions team in their efforts and encourage the team members to maintain their focus.
- A facilitator is to be provided from each church – i.e., someone who can remain objective and guide the process. This person should not be a member of the missions committee and needs to be competent to lead a group through the exercises. The facilitators would need to meet with the workshop coordinator for 2-3 hours on the Friday evening before the workshop.
- There is a short survey that needs to be conducted prior to the workshop (see below for instructions and sample questions download).
Church Missions Survey
This workshop requires a commitment of time and resources on behalf of a number of people. In order to get the most out of the workshop and to ensure that decisions are made with the highest possible relevance to your church, we highly recommend that the following downloadable survey be printed out, placed in the church bulletin a couple of weeks before the workshop and the results brought to the workshop. Some of the exercises you will complete at the workshop will utilize information from the survey.
Download: Church Missions Survey
Check out: Code of Best Practices for Church Missions
For further information contact Mark Naylor via the form below.
